2025 News Quiz
Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and world’s 2nd richest man, married Lauren Sanchez, a former news anchor, in which historical European city?
The wedding celebrations lasted 3 days. Which of these parties did they NOT have?
cocktail party
foam party
garden party
pizza party
pyjama party
Guilherme Siqueira. (former Brazilian Soccer player)l Domenico Dolce (fashion designer), Bill Gates (Microsoft Founder)
Can you describe how local people protested the wedding?
Protestors…
hung signs from bridges and used flares to release colourful smoke
placed huge signs in plazas
floated a dummy of bezos in the canal
hang a sign
flare = a stick that releases a colourful fire and smoke
dummy = a model of a human being (e.g. to check car safety)
In the end, the wedding venue was moved after protesters announced a plan to use inflatable crocodiles. What was their plan?
Protesters planned to float hundreds of inflatable crocodiles onto the canal to block the wedding boats.
The most famous heist was at the Lourve. Thieves stole jewelry (necklaces, earrings, tiaras) worth $102 million.
heist = when thieves steal something from a building
How did the thieves get into and escape the building?
They used a cherry picker and wore bright yellow worker’s vests to enter the building through a window on the 2nd floor.
They used electric tools to break a window and the glass around the jewelry. They then climbed down the same cherry picker and used scooters to drive away.
The whole thing took 7 minutes.
How did the company that makes the Cherry Pickers react to this news?
They made an ad with the photo.
It says: “When things need to go quickly”
As of February 2026, 4 suspects have been arrested but the jewels haven’t been found.
In 2025 Donald Trump banned companies from using something. During an interview he said:
“These things don’t work”
They “won’t affect a shark”
“If something's hot, they don't last very long, like a matter of minutes, sometimes a matter of seconds.”
“I’ve had them many times, and on occasion, they break, they explode.”
What is he talking about?
Donald Trump signed a law in the US that bans companies from forcing customers to use paper straws.
Government agencies were also banned from using paper straws.
Takaichi Sanae became Japan’s first female Prime Minister and her handbag became very popular and quickly sold out.
What do you know about the bag?
material ?
brand?
price?
The leather bag is made by Hamano, a Japanese leather goods company that was founded in 1880. It sells for ¥136,400.
Many other female leaders (Meloni in Italy, Merkel in Germany, Harris and Clinton in the US) never carried their own bags. Why?
These leaders had an assistant carry their bags. Generally a handbag is seen as feminine and they wanted a powerful image in a male world.
Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi’s hero, often carried a handbag. When she was Prime Minister the new word “handbagging” became popular because Thatcher often publicly handbagged politicians.
What do you think this means?
to handbag someone (verb) = to verbally attack or criticize someone
Are these statements about Takaichi Sanae true or false?
She used to host a TV show
She was a professional heavy metal drummer
She loves riding motorcycles
She used to have pink hair
She has been married twice but hasn’t changed her name.
In 1994 she appeared in a commercial for a book praising Hitler’s election policies.
AnswersShe was in a heavy metal band in university, not professionally.
She loves riding motorcycles but stopped when she became a politician.
She legally changed her name when she first got married but used “Takaichi” professionally. In her 2nd marriage, her husband took her name.All the rest are true.
In 2025 Ne Zha 2, a Chinese animated movie, had the highest box office of 2025 making almost $2.3 billion. It was the first non-English movie to make over $1 billion.
box office = the money a movie makes from cinemas
What do you think the movie is about?
It’s based on a popular Chinese legend. It’s about a boy, Ne Zha, who is born with special powers that he can’t control. He protects people from monsters sent to earth by the Gods.
Which Japanese movie appeared in the top 10 list at the global box office?
Which film made the most money? - Superman, Demon Slayer or Mission Impossible 8?
Demon Slayer made the most money ($730 million) and was number 7 at the global box office.
In the US what TV show was streamed the most in 2025?
Grey’s anatomy - a medical drama - 458 episodes (Hulu, Netflix)
Stranger Things - an 80’s drama about kids fighting monsters - 42 episodes (Netflix)
Bluey - an Australian kids cartoon about a family of dogs - 154 episodes (all are under 10 minutes) (Disney+)
Bluey was 1st in 2024 and 2025. It was 2nd in 2023.
Game 7 of the World Series had an average of 51 million viewers across the US, Japan and Canada. In Japan 12 million people on average watched the game (even though it started at 9am).
What was the average number of viewers for the he first game of the Tokyo Series between Cubs and Dodgers?
25 million viewers watched it.
In Japan NHK decided NOT to show Game 7 on normal TV. It was only shown on NHK BS which I don’t have. I was angry.
What did NHK show instead?
:Broadcast from9:00 AM to 10:15 AM. This is NHK's primary political debate program where prominent politicians and experts discuss
趣味の園芸 horticulture
During a Coldplay concert the kiss cam showed this couple in the crowd. What happened next?
Why did a Kayaker in Chile became famous last year?
kayak = a single person boat
kayaker = person riding a kayak
A humpback whale swallowed the 23 year old kayaker while his Dad was filming him.
These whales have small throats (the size of a pipe in your house) so he could never have swallowed the man.
At the start of 2020 Trump imposed high tariffs on Canadian imports and said he thought Canada could “become the 51st state.”
Canadians were furious and how did it affect the Hockey Game between Canada and the US?
a) Canada tried to charge American fans 50% more for tickets
b) Canadian fans tried fight American fans outside the stadium
c) 3 fights between players started in the first 10 seconds of the game?
Canadians fans also booed the US National anthem.
The US won the game 4-1.